Tan Lingyin took a few steps back abruptly and looked at Tang Tianyuan dumbly.
Tang Tianyuan also looked at her fixedly. He suddenly smiled and said, "What? I didn't bite you."
Because of the ‘bite me’ incident last time, these seemingly meaningless words sounded very ambiguous. Tan Lingyin's face turned red. She stammered, "I...that..." Her mind was empty, so she didn't know what to say.
Tang Tianyuan completed her sentence, "You ‘insulted’ me again," he comforted her with a smile, "but it doesn't matter, I'm used to it anyway."
"I didn't mean it..." Tan Lingyin said, her face flushed even more. How could she explain this kind of thing carefully without being embarrassed? She had no choice but to turn around and leave. Fleeing as if running for her life.
The County Magistrate's happy and presumptuous laughter came from behind.
After laughing, Tang Tianyuan lowered his head and receded the tenderness on his face. His eyes fell back to the map again.
Although he wasn’t completely concentrating on the subject, they were indeed analyzing in the right direction.
Tang Tianyuan had a nagging feeling that the Sun Residence was hiding something. They must have dragged things out and did not report to the officials on purpose. And there must be another reason for why the bandits went all the way to rob the Sun Residence's farmhouse.
He put away the map and summoned a few officers. He instructed two officers to go to Nanling County to ask for a you(友)-rank official [1] to assist in handling the case. They were asked to borrow relevant documents as well as a couple of people who had participated in the previous bandit report investigations. If there were any witnesses, it would be exceptional. Two other officers were to secretly inquire and investigate about Old Tie. They were warned to act cautiously and to be careful not to ‘startle the resting snake’.
In fact, he had a bold guess of what may be the matter.
After the officers dispersed, Tang Tianyuan found that he had some freedom in time. He took a letter from the bookshelf and read it again. Then he found a blank piece of paper and picked up a pen to reply to his father.
Hmm… How should he reply?
To give respect to his parents and reporting his safety was a must. In addition, he had to talk to his father about the marriage proposal. His father said in the letter that he had already discussed it with his mother; it was time to get him engaged. It had taken them quite a bit of time to find a good candidate. His parents had looked until they were exhausted, but finally they agreed on the daughter of the Ministry of Rites’ assistant minister.
The girl was sixteen years old this year. She had a good appearance and a good character. She matched well with a man like Tang Tianyuan, who has no bad family history. It was simply a match made in heaven. Both parents were very satisfied with this marriage arrangement.
Tang Tianyuan was very dissatisfied.
It's not that the girl was unsatisfactory, but it was because he already had someone he liked. Had he not been infected by Tan Lingyin's eccentricity, he would have not refused the marriage arranged by his parents.
However, this matter could not be accepted now. He already had someone living in his heart. To want him to marry a stranger, this is a lifetime thing, so he could not be reconciled.
No matter how good the other party was, it was not Tan Lingyin. He only wanted Tan Lingyin.
His father, Tang Ge Lao, had already chosen the date to send the betrothal gifts. He planed to let his son return to the capital city to get married by the end of this year. Fortunately, the date was set in more than a month, so Tang Tianyuan still had some room to make a turnaround, otherwise things would be more troublesome.
But how would he go about telling his parents this? No matter how he explained, he would be in the wrong for presiding over his own marriage. In fact, Tang Tianyuan was not afraid of his parents scolding him, he was afraid that Tan Lingyin would be looked down upon.
That girl ran away from marriage at a young age. Shad ran away from home, wandered outside for a few years, and then sneaked into the county government office, dealing with men every day. According to his parents' standards, such a girl would not even be worth looking at.
However, Tang Tianyuan was very glad that Tan Lingyin did this. Because of this, they were able to meet.
But to grow from meeting to marriage, it will be a long journey.
Not to mention marriage, the two of them are even sharing the feeling of mutual love. Tan Lingyin is a clever girl, so was it so hard to enlighten her?
Tang Tianyuan sighed and agonized for a while. In the end, he planned to explain the matter to his father; it was best not to let his mother know yet. His mother was more strict and could not tolerate any sand in her eyes. However, by comparison, his father was quite open-minded.
This kind of thing had to be sent with a confidant. So his considerate personal servant Huanggua was selected again.
Huanggua was an astute servant. Traveling from the capital city to Tongling, he had heard all kinds of rumors about his Young Master. So when his Young Master handed him this matter, he understood right away. For Huanggua, the daughter of the Minister of Rites was only a rumor, while Head Commissioner Tan was the real deal. Head Commissioner Tan was beautiful and kind hearted; she would smile at everyone, so Huanggua liked her very much. Most importantly, his Young Master liked her too. So it became Huanggua's obligatory responsibility to turn Head Commissioner Tan into the Young Mistress of the Tang Residence.
Currently, Huanggua had an important issue to report, but didn't know how to tell the Young Master. On the one hand, it concerned the happiness of his Young Master, and on the other hand, it involved his good brother, Xihulu.
"What are you trying to say?" Tang Tianyuan was a little impatient.
Let's just say it. Young Master was the first, and his good brother was second. Huanggua replied, "Young Master, this servant thinks the lady probably already knows something."
Tang Tianyuan's face became gloomy. "How did it happen? Who disclosed it?!"
Huanggua shrank back his neck; he would not directly say that it was the Xihulu, so he answered, "Before Xihulu returned to the capital city after delivering the letter, this servant saw Xianggua jiejie asked him something. Xihulu inturn nodded vigorously. Later, I asked him and Xihulu honestly told me that Xianggua had asked him to report your safety to Madam."
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Footnote:
[1] you(友)-rank official - a sixth ranked official.